The Fox and the Kitten
by fang1108
Summary: emily the sassy and gabby the awkward are sent to CGL. squidxEmily cavemanXgabby follows the story line at some points.
1. welcome to hell ladies

**sorry for the massive first couple of paragraphs, I never write that much at once.

Chapter one

Emily's POV

My best friend Gabby glanced over at me a few rows ahead in the rusty old banana colored bus that was driving us to Camp Green Lake. Yes, Camp Green Lake. It was an all boys camp in the middle of west-Desert-nowhere. She and I didn't belong here. Well at least she didn't.

Gabby had her long chest length curly brown hair pulled back into a neat ponytail and her side bangs had a perfect wave to them. She had chestnut brown eyes which radiated against her porcelain doll like skin which had freckles spotted across her nose. She was really tall, only an inch taller than me though, at five foot ten. She had soft features and a loving face which was always smiling.

I on the other hand had dirty blonde layered hair which was medium length and side bangs which wisped across my face. My skin was a little tanner than Gabby's and I had only a few freckles which were only dotted across my arms. I had blue eyes with a brown sunburst in the center which was always outlined with dark eyeliner. People normally looked at me and were intimidated, I had a personality to match it. It wasn't like I was a mean person, it was just that I had trouble trusting people. Gabby was the only one I truly trusted.

"Here we are ladies," the police officer who was sitting in the very front of the bus said, standing up and putting a thick hand on his beer-belly stomach.

"This place smells like cauliflower," Gabby scrunched her nose and I breathed deeply to keep from laughing.

As soon as we stepped off the bus a crowd began to form, everyone was talking amongst themselves.

"Hey man, theyre two girls!"

"What the hell? Why are there chicks here?"

"Look at that ones ass! OW!"

I snarled to myself as we walked by them, Gabby seemed frightened for her life.

"I don't like this place Em," she said, inching closer to me.

"We'll be fine."I comforted, "Just think of the tan we're gonna get."

"I'm gonna burn so bad that I may loose all my layers of skin."

"Then you'll be a walking pile of bones and fleshy stuff," I whispered.

Her eyes widened, "I may have to ask for sunblock."

We were led into a small room which was at the end of all of the massive filthy white tents and escorted to sit in the two seats in front of the desk which a man in a cowboy had sit.

The officer unlocked our handcuffs and sat down next to Gabby.

"So ladies," the man spit out something into a cup. "What brings you two here?"

"They were breaking and entering in a mans home after stalking him for the whole day," the cop rubbed his beard.

"He was a singer that we liked!" Gabby blurted. "It wasn't meant to be anything harmful. I think this is completely absurd."

"You broke and entered a mans house uninvited," the cop snarled.

I coughed, "That was my idea. Not hers, she shouldn't be here."

"She did it anyway with you. Now-

The cowboy hat man cut the officer off, "ENOUGH!"

We all turned out attention back to him.

"Now," he spat again. "You two will be in tent G, tents A through E are for the boys and tent F is for the counsilors. Since the state told us y'all need your own tent we had to set one up. It's right behind Tent D. Now put these on," he threw two orange suits at each of us. "One for work and the other for relaxation. You will get your work clothes washed every five weeks. You will report to the Library shed in the morning when the alarm rings and we will explain what to do from there. Any questions?"

"Where do we shower?" Gabby asked.

"In the shower rooms once the boys are done. Don't need you two peeking at any of our boys," the man winked and I grimaced.

"What's your names anyway?" he cleared his throat obnoxiously.

"I am Gabrielle."

"Emily," I eyed him over with a sneer on my face.

"Well there Gabrielle nice to meet yah, you don't seem like you're gonna be a problem. Emily on the other hand, regular spitfire we got here. My name is Mr. Sir. You will call me that and nothing but that."

"Sure thing," I rolled my eyes.

"Why hello there!" a dorky looking man appeared in the doorway with sun block blobbed on his nose. "My name is Dr. Pendanski and you two just need to know that you aren't bad kids, you just need to learn how to behave."

I snorted and Gabby elbowed me.

"Hello." she greeted, not wanting to be rude.

"Why don't I show you two to your tent then you can go get yourself acquainted to everyone in the wreck room," he led us both outside and into a small crowd of boys who were all eager to see the 'fresh meat'.

"You were right they are two girls!" a guy with wild blonde hair said to his large dark skinned friend.

"I told you so Zig!" he replied.

"Oh hello, ladies, this is Theodore and Ricky," Dr. Pendanski introduced.

"The name's Armpit," Theodore snapped. "And this is Zig-zag."

"Hello ladies," Zig-zag waggled his eyebrows and Gabby looked taken aback.

"How did you do that?" she asked, attempting to do the same with hers.

I snickered, "I'm Emily and this is Gabby."

"We need names for you two," Armpit announced.

"They all have their little nicknames, however I prefer to use the names their parents gave them, the names society will recognize them by," Dr. P shot them both a look.

"We call him Mom," Armpit said. "You can too."

"Let's go to your tent now," mom ushered us away and to the tent next to the one we were standing by.

We walked in to find two cots with a dark blue blanket on each. There were a few empty dressers which looked pretty beat up and a small pillow thrown in the middle of the room.

"Nice place," I commented, throwing my bag onto the bed.

"May we borrow a duster?" Gabby asked, placing her things away carefully.

Mom laughed, "I will have Stanley and Alan meet you two in the wreck room so they can tell you the ropes."

"Bye!" waved Gabby as she sighed trying to blow dust off of the bed by shaking out the blanked.

I coughed, "Jesus Christ! You're making it go everywhere!"

"Sorry!" she choked. "It's just so dirty in here."

"Were you expecting a Hilton Hotel with maid service?" I joked, slipping off my dark skinny jeans and leaving on a black spaghetti strap tank top, pulling on the orange suit.

Surprisingly it fit decently and I left it unzippered, tying the arms around my waist. Gabby did the same except she had on a bright purple t-shirt on top.

"Your outfit is blinding me slightly," I laid back on the bed, waiting for her to finish getting changed.

She huffed, "Well you are going to be hot with that black on!"

"I'd rather wear black then resemble a disco ball," I tugged on my straight hair.

"Let's go to the wreck room and see who Stanley and Alan are," she began walking out of the room and I slowly followed. "God you walk slow."

"I'm not about to start sprinting to the wreck room," I kicked up some dirt with the black boots that came with the suit.

"I think we should just dance our way there," Gabby pursed her lips, slowing down to my pace.

"And then we can put on a musical for the rest of the boys later tonight. Maybe Mr. Sir will join in," we walked up the steps and entered the large room which had torn up couches and what seemed like thirty guys laying around it. Some of them were playing pool, poker, or just talking.

"Is this the right place?" Gabby whispered. I stayed silent and looked around the room.

"Is your name Gabby?" a curly haired brunette with a red baseball hat walked over to us. His features were soft like Gabby's were, his hazel eyes smoldering slightly.

"Yeah, I'm Gabby."

"I'm Caveman and this is Squid." He pointed to a tall boy with a white bandanna on under a hat who was chewing on a tooth pick. He seemed like he had black hair, judging by his eyebrows and he was about four inches taller than Gabby.

I looked over at Gabby who was staring at Caveman with her mouth open, I nudged her side and she jumped up.

"My name is Gabby." She repeated and I glanced around the room again, more curious about seeing who everyone else was.

"Wait, I already told you that," she gave her infamous Marge Simpson like laugh. "I have a bad habit of repeating myself sometimes. It just kinda happens. You know, like when you can't remember if you said something so you just say it again? I do that. Well," she looked confused. "I think everyone does. Unless you don't."

Caveman smiled warmly as Squids eyebrows raised, "Nice to meet you. Why don't I show you around here? Squid can show Emily."

I glanced up to see that Squid had been staring at me, "Come on girl."

I eyed him without any emotion on my face and looked back to Gabby, "If you need me, scream."

"Will do," Gabby followed after Caveman, I noticed he was a few inches taller than her which she must be loving.

"You aint talkin much like your friend," he clicked the toothpick in his teeth.

I shrugged and watched as some guys slapped the side of a small TV trying to get it to work.

"You got a problem or somethin with me?" he asked.

I looked into his deep eyes, realizing he was actually pretty cute.

"No, I don't have a reason to."

"Oh, well what do you want me to show you?" he scratched his head.

"The exit?" I asked and he sighed.

"I hear ya. I'm gonna go over by the rest of D-tent. You comin or just standin here?" his words seemed slightly challenging.

"Ill come," I followed, walking next to him.

"Why are you here?" he asked, not seeming to care too much.

I just shrugged again and he didn't seem like he was going to ask again.

"Hey Squid!" Zig-zag was sitting at the table, "You know Emily?"

Squid shrugged slightly then sat down.

"Sit down girl!" the black boy with thick black rimmed glasses invited.

I sat next to Zig-Zag and looked around the table quietly. Armpit from earlier was sitting there next to a boy with wild afro-like hair, then a boy with Mexican looking features and a shaved head, and next to him was Squid.

"My name is X-Ray," he seemed like he was the leader of the group. "You know Squid, Zig, and Armpit already. That's Magnet," he pointed to the Mexican boy. "And that's Zero."

I glanced up at him, not too sure what to say.

"You kinda sketch me out girl," he commented.

"Whys that?" I asked.

"You just seem to know everything that's goin on, like you sit there and observe," X-ray explained.

"Sly," Armpit chimed in. "Like a Fox."

"Hey Fox," Magnet called. "Where did your friend go?"

"Gabby went with Caveman to look around. I don't think they'll be back for a while."

"She was real sweet," Armpit remembered. "Nice girl."

"Yeah," Zig-Zag's eyes got wide. "She was all friendly. Too friendly."

"Don't worry about him," Squid said from across from me. "I read his file, he's got acute para-parasomethin."

"Paranoia." I corrected.

"How did you know that?" Zig burst out.

I laughed slightly, "I don't know. It's kinda obvious."

"Hey Squid," X-ray laughed. "Why you keep starin at Fox? You gonna creep her out."

Squid snarled, "I aint starin at nothin!"

"The grammar skills at this table are appalling," a familiar voice said from behind me.

"Well sugar what do you expect? This is a detention center. Not Harvard," X-ray looked her up and down.

"Keep your eyes in your head," I glowered.

"Mama fox is getting protective!" Magnet joked.

"Watch your tone girl," X-ray's eyes like daggars.

"I don't apriciate you staring at my friend like a piece of meat," I stood up.

He did the same, "What you gonna do about it?"

Squid stepped between us, Magnet pulling back on X-ray slightly.

"Dude don't do this," he begged, knowing X-ray could overpower him.

"Come on," Squid commanded, dragging me to the other side of the room.

"Gabby's still there," I tried pulling back.

"Caveman's got her, don't worry." He sat me down on a couch and then plopped down next to me, legs spread out and arms on the back of the seat.

"Why did you take me over here?" I asked and he shrugged.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I looked over and he did the same.

"I guess because you were about to get into a fight and Warden wouldn't be happy about that."

"Warden?" I asked.

"She's in charge here. Don't wanna mess with her, she's meaner than a hornet," he pulled on his white t-shirt.

"So? I would have gotten in trouble, who cares?"

"I'm sapposed to watch you."

"I don't need a babysitter," I snapped slightly.

"Too bad," he sniffed, leaning back even farther into the couch.


	2. truth or dare

Chapter 2

Emily's POV

There was an alarm that went off, filling the thick desert air at zero dark. Gabby leapt up out of her bed and stood in a battle stance as soon as it went off.

"What was that!" she yelped.

I sat up in my bed, unable to grasp what was going on, "It…the sleds are outside."

"What?" Gabby asked, rushing to put on her orange suit.

"OHMYGOD!" I jumped out of bed. "We have to get up!"

She laughed, "Come on, we have to go to that Library shed."

I obeyed and changed into that horrid orange jumpsuit, putting on a white tank top and tying the arms around my waist, sweating too much already to have long sleeves on. Gabby did the same as she did yesterday, except she let her long flowing hair fall down around her shoulders. I pulled mine back, leaving my bangs down, knowing that my hair would be slicked back with sweat by the end of the day.

"Ready?" she asked, pulling on a pair of socks and her boots.

I nodded and walked out of the tent after her.

"What do you think we have to do?" she asked, eyeing the guys who walked past us holding shovels.

"Hey!" Zig-zag ran over to us with Squid and Caveman by his side. "Fox and Kitten!"

"Hey!" Gabby smiled. "Good morning!"

"More like good night," I mumbled.

Squid stared at me for a moment and I snapped, "What?"

He shot me a dirty look, "Calm down girl."

I ignored him and saw that Gabby was talking with the others.

"You gotta dig a hole five feet deep and five feet wide, use the shovel to measure." Caveman explained. "You guys are gonna come with the D-tent group."

Caveman handed Gabby a shovel and she thanked him as Squid tossed one to me and I jumped out of the way, letting it fall to the ground.

"Nice catch," he sneered.

"It's about one in the morning, I'm not exactly ready to catch flying tools right now," I said and he smirked slightly.

"Hey everyone!" Mom came out of the F-tent. "Here is your breakfast."

He handed out a soggy tortilla to everyone and I grimaced when he handed mine to me. "Is this edible?"

Gabby held hers out, watching the boys devouer theirs. She cautiously bit hers and shrugged, continuing to take rabbit sized nibbles.

I handed mine to Squid and he gratiously took it, eating it just as fast as the other one.

"You're gonna be starving by lunch," Zig said, licking his fingers.

I scrunched my nose up, "I think I'll be ok."

"Come on sugar, let's go dig," Squid put an arm around my shoulders and led me away from the group. I gave him a look and pushed his arm off. The rest of the group was following after us.

Squid carried his shovel over his shoulders one arm on each side, he chewed at his toothpick. He glanced down at me, noticing I was staring. "What?"

"Nothin," I mumbled, dragging my shovel beside me.

He smirked, "You starin at me?"

"Don't humor yourself," I sighed.

He bumped into me teasingly, "Don't lie Fox."

I bumped his side back but a little harder, sending him off course a little, "I'm not."

He held his shovel to the other side and bumped into my side harder than I did, making me trip a little. And I smiled slightly before coming back at him throwing all my weight, sending him falling over with me on top of him because he grabbed on last minute, making sure I fell too.

I laughed, "Asshole."

He seemed to laugh a little, "You were askin for it."

"Hey guys," X-ray walked past us. "Let's save the flirting for later."

I felt my face flush and I grabbed my shovel off the ground, walking to an empty spot between Armpit, Gabby, and Caveman to dig my hole.

GABBY'S POV

The sun poured down out of the sky, slamming down on my face as I was about five feet deep into the ground, digging for a reason I didn't know. I wiped a bead of sweat off my upper lip and sat down in my hole, trying to salvage all I had left in my water canteen.

I groaned and stood up again, knowing I had to only dig a little more before I could go back to camp. Emily poked her head over the side of my hole.

"You ok down there?" she asked, her big blue eyes staring down at me.

I nodded, "It's just hot."

"First hole is the hardest ladies," Magnet called from behind us.

So far out of all the guys we had met, Caveman and I had gotten along the best. He and I joked around about a lot of things and seemed to have the same views on everything. He wasn't a bad kid either like a lot of the guys here, he didn't even do anything to get here, it was a misunderstanding. Or so I hoped. X-Ray and I didn't really talk much, he kind of seemed a little too self-obsessed for my taste. Armpit, Magnet, and Zig-Zag and I all were friends though, they all had extremely different personalities but we got along all the same. Then there was that guy Squid. I didn't so much like him either, he kind of scared me the way that he always looked like he wanted to hurt someone. Maybe that's why Emily seemed to have a huge crush on him. Last night before we had went to bed all she could talk about was him.

"Caveman?" I called, climbing out of my hole, sitting on the side next to Emily who was laying down in the dirt.

"Yeah?" he asked, popping his head out of his hole.

"Where do we go when we're done?"

"We normally go to the wreck room or our tent. I'm almost done, maybe we can go hang out in my tent or something?" he asked, rubbing his brown curls.

Emily rolled over onto her stomach and looked over at us, "I need it to be like a centimeter deeper then I'm done."

"Too weak?" teased Squid from his hole.

"Blisters," she said, eyeing her hands which had random bloody spots all over them.

I looked down at my hands which were fine, used to the hard labor from gardening so much at home.

Squid climbed out of his hole and spit into it before jumping into Emily's.

"What are you doin?" she asked, sitting up.

"Helpin you before you pass out and die," he threw some dirt out of her hole.

"Hey Gab," Caveman stood next to me. "I'm done."

"Em, you coming?" I asked.

"No, I'll wait for Squid," she said.

"Alright, Ill be in D-tent," I said as Caveman gave me a small smile and we walked back to camp

"So," Caveman popped another goldfish into his mouth that we got from a stash they had in their tent that one of the boys stole from the cafeteria. "How long have you and Fox known each other?"

"Since sixth grade," I took a handful of orange crackers. "French class. We became closer in seventh grade and then we were best friends."

"I don't really have that many friends back home." He tied the orange jumpsuit around his waist tighter, rubbing his stomach from under his white t-shirt revealing perfect abs. "I'm socially awkward."

I laughed, "I know the feeling. I had my friends though. From cross-country and just my normal friends."

He stared at me for a long moment, "You have gorgeous eyes."

I shooed him away with my hand, "Oh please."

He sat up on his cot a little, "its true."

I fidgeted next to him as he touched my cheek slightly. His eyes and mine were hooked together and he leaned closer a little more, seeming scared.

"DOES EVERYONE HAVE THEIR CLOTHES ON?" X-ray screamed as he walked into the tent with his hands over his eyes. All the boys followed after him. Zero plopped down on his bed next to Caveman's. Everyone else went back to their own.

"Where are Squid and Fox?" Caveman asked.

"Squid is helpin Fox with her hole because her hands are bleeding like crazy," Zero mumbled to him.

A few seconds later the two walked into the room, Squid sitting down on his bed, laying out lazily as Emily just stood there, unsure of what to do.

"Sit down girl," X-ray said, my opinion on him since yesterday was slowly changing to a more positive view.

Squid stood up quickly and picked her up (something I know she hated) and sat her down on his bed, her eyes were insanely wide.

"Never pick me up again," she breathed.

Squid spit onto the ground and leaned back onto his bed with his back to the headboard like Caveman was sitting. I leaned back into Caveman's chest and his breath staggered slightly. Emily was sitting at the edge of Squids bed with her legs in pretzel position.

"Let's play a game," I suggested.

Zig-zag snickered, "What is this girl scouts?"

I shot him a look, "Well it's better than just sitting here."

"What's the game?" Caveman asked, all for my idea.

I thought for a moment, "Truth or dare?"

Emily and Squid snickered from his bed.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," Emily laid down on the bed, not caring that Squid was there next to her.

"Ok you go first then." I commanded. "Truth or Dare Miss. Fox?"

"Truth," she said.

"Do you think Squid is hot?" X-Ray asked quickly.

Her face twitched a little, "What?"

"Do you?" Armpit ribbed.

"I don't know," she mumbled.

"Kitten, you go now," Caveman changed the subject seeing that Emily didn't want to answer that question.

"Dare."

"Give Caveman a big kiss for us," Zig-zag laughed.

All the blood rushed out of my face and my eyes widened.

"Just do it!" X-ray hollered and laughed, making me dislike him again.

Everyone was making kissy faces in the room except for Zero, Emily, and Squid who just sat there. Zero looked nervous as Squid didn't really seem to care and Emily chewed at her lip, probably trying to think of how to help me.

Caveman saved me by quickly leaning in and kissing me for a brief moment before leaning back. Everyone laughed a little before they turned their attention to the next person.

"Squid's turn," X-ray said, obviously enjoying the game.

"Do I have to?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"Fine, truth."

"Why did you help Emily with her hole today?" Magnet chimed in.

He looked away, "Because the Warden would have bitched if it didn't get done."

"No because you were tryin to-

"I told you why I did it now shut'cher mouth Magnet."

"Squidward," I chimed in.

He looked over at me, raising his eyebrows.

"I think you liiike her."

"He better claim her soon, or else."X-ray said laughing.

"Or else what?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, what?" Squid looked over.

"I may have to claim her for myself." He chortled.

Squid looked at him and his eyes said it all.

"What, jealous?" X-ray challenged.

Squid growled a little, "No."

"Fox, why don't you come sit with me then beautiful?" X asked.

"X-ray is just mad because he knows Fox likes Squid," Zig-Zag kidded.

"Let's talk about me more like I'm not sitting right here," Emily sighed.

"Why don't you just come over here?" X asked again.

Squid stood up, "Shut up man!"

Emily grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back, "Stop it. The Warden is gonna freak out."

X-ray glared at him, "I was just kidding Squid. You know I was."

"Whatever," he stormed out and Emily followed after him.

The alarm from this morning went off again and I looked around.

"Time to get up?" I asked.

Caveman laughed, "No, dinner time."

We all got up and headed for the Cafeteria, Caveman holding my hand the whole way there.


	3. my knight in shining armor

****Another chapter up!! I'm gonna attempt to start following the storyline in some way eventually and get some Gabby's POV up R&R!

Chapter 3

Emily's POV

I followed after Squid when he stormed out of the tent, I knew that he was trying to keep his cool but I followed him anyway.

"What's wrong," I grabbed his arm and he stopped walking.

"Calming down," he stared into the long never ending desert spotted with the holes for miles.

I sighed, "He was just kidding."

"I don't care," he muttered.

I touched his arm tenderly, "Don't be mad."

He glanced down at me daringly, "Why do you care?"

"Because…" I trailed off.

"Because why?" he turned to face me.

I looked down and he put a finger under my chin, making me look at him. "Well?"

"I don't want you to be mad," I felt my stomach get a rush inside of it like a pile of leaves being blown through a gusty falls day. I let my eyes wander down to his bottom lip that had that infamous toothpick resting on and I swallowed a little, wanting nothing more than to let my finger trace across it. His russet eyes stared down into mine, they seemed to glisten in the blaring sunlight. He leaned in faintly, brushing his thumb over my lower lip, pulling down so softly if someone were watching they wouldn't have noticed.

He leaned in a little more and just when his lips were nearly a centimeter from mine the alarm went off for dinner and everyone rushed out of the wreck room and into the cafeteria.

He didn't even acknowledge me at that point, he just sighed and followed the rest of the crowd.

In the lunch room Gabby and I sat at the D-tent boy's table. Gabby was next to Caveman and had Zig-zag on her other side and then me in between Squid and X-Ray.

"So," X-ray leaned in. "You two kiss and make up?"

I lowered my eyebrows slightly when I looked over at him and he didn't seem to notice, either that or he just ignored it.

"Well?" he pushed.

"No," I said, drawing out the word as if it were a question.

We had been eating dinner (which if I may add looked like elephant turd) for about ten minutes so far and Squid hadn't even looked in my direction.

"They aint even talkin X," Armpit said from the other side of the table.

I poked at my elephant turd and glanced up at Gabby who was being blatantly stared at by both Caveman and Zig-Zag and she seemed extremely uncomfortable.

"Well," X-ray took a bite of his 'food'. "I still think Fox wants me."

I stifled a laugh and ended up giving out one of those breaths that sound like you're trying to not laugh.

"That's funny now?" X asked, leaning in slightly.

My eyes flickered to him for a brief moment before going to the other side of the room.

"I'm gonna go watch TV," I mumbled quickly before getting up to go to the wreck room.

All of the boys except for about ten or so were still eating so it was pretty empty in the wreck room when I got there. I noticed that one of the guys, who had somewhat long hair, was staring at me as I walked past him sitting on an armchair. Ignoring him, I sat down on the couch and stared at the fuzzy screen that showed faint images of what looked like an old western film.

Before I knew it, the boy sat down next to me and was sitting dangerously close.

"Hey there," he said, playing with a piece of my hair. I swatted his hand away and stood up quickly.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me back down, "Don't be like that."

He whispered into my ear, giving me slight chills from his cold breath. After another attempt to pull away from him he pushed my back to the arm of the couch, leaning on me slightly.

"Come on," he held my flailing arms down as I screamed for him to get off. "My name is Lump. What's yours?"

"Fuck you," I snapped as I went to knee him in the stomach. It didn't do anything at all, instead I hit rock hard abs which just ended up hurting my knee. He pressed all of his body weight down on me and tried pushing his face to mine. I attempted to wrestle with him but he overpowered me and began kissing at my neck in my weak attempts to get him off.

There were only about three other guys in the room and they were on the other side playing an intense game of pool and didn't seem to notice anything outside of that. Not that they would help me anyway.

Just when I thought I was going to break down and cry, Lump was pulled off of me and onto the ground. Immediately X-Ray was by my side with Magnet, pulling me up so I was sitting, asking if I was alright.

Magnet and X-Ray were attemting to calm me down but I was more concentrated on watching Squid attack Lump, showing no mercy.

I took in a deep breath and leaned back in the couch, "Thanks."

"It's ok Fox," X soothed. "You alright?"

"Fine," I managed to choke out.

Lump got up and sprinted out of the room, a bloody nose sputtering everywhere. Squid stood there for a moment and without thinking, I stood up and grabbed his arm like I did earlier.

He turned violently, then his facial expressions changed when he saw it was me. "What?"

"Thanks," I mumbled, starting away from him.

"Yeah," he said, beginning to walk away towards the rest of his friends who were now playing Poker with a bunch of dirty torn cards.

"Can you," I hesitated and he stopped walking.

"Can I what?" he turned around.

"Take me back to my tent," I still couldn't look straight at him.

"Fine," he said, walking out of the door with me, catching a few glares from other guys on the way out who I presumed were Lump's friends.

We walked in complete silence, him chewing on that damn toothpick and me just playing with the arms of the jumpsuit around my waist. Once we reached my tent he stood near the door and I lingered for a moment.

"Are you gonna go in?" he asked, looking out at the now setting sun.

"D-do you wanna come in?" I asked, nervous he would shoot me down and walk away.

He waited for a second before shrugging and following after me inside. I sat on my bed and he stood near one of the dressers, staring at a picture that was set up.

"Who are they?" he asked, poking at the red frame.

"Me, my mom, and my grandma," I walked over to him.

"Oh," he mumbled. "You got a dad?"

"That's a personal question," I took the picture from him and stared at it.

"Which requires a simple answer, ain't it?"

"No."

"No?"

"No, I don't have one."

"Oh."

We stood in a thick stillness for a epigrammatic second which felt as if it were a million years.

"Me neither," his voice broke through the blanket of quiet that laid over us.

"What about your mom?" I asked, putting the picture back down.

"She's too drunk to know what's goin on half the time," he wandered away from me and sat down on the bed, staring at the dirty plastic wall.

I followed him cautiously and sat down next to him. He looked over at me, "You and your mom close?"

"We argue sometimes. But that's just because I do stupid stuff. But she's upset a lot, her fiancé is never home because he travels for work so she kind of lets out that anger on me which makes me pissed off at her most of the time."

"Is he cheating?"

"I don't know." I mumbled. "But it can be really good sometimes."

"Yeah," he sat up a little more. "It used to be good sometimes, but not for a while."

I put a hand on his knee, "You should help her."

"How the hell could I do that?" he barked slightly.

"Have you tried talking to her?" I said matter-of-factly.

He slouched back down, "No."

"You should."

"Maybe."

I wasn't sure what to say at that point so I took my hand back and he looked up.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothin."

"I don't get you," I laughed a little.

"I think you get me more than anyone else here," he stated, sitting up again.

I cocked my head to the side, "I don't know about that. One second you seem to like me, helping me with my hole and with Lump. Then you go and ignore me the next second."

"I've known you for a day but it's like you've been here forever. It just freaks me out."

"You're scared?"

"I said freaked out. Not scared."

My lip twitched a little, "Oh."

His did the same, "What do you mean _oh_?"

"Nothin!" I mocked, realizing how often we used that word with each other.

"Somethin!" his rare smile seemed to be forming a spigot more.

I was about to make some kind of a joke but then I glanced down to see a spider the size of a baseball mitt on the ground, I leapt up onto the bed.

"KILL IT!" I screamed.

He jumped up next to me, "Hell no!"

We held onto each others arms, screaming for the other to kill the beast and jumped around on the bed. Then Gabby walked into the tent with Caveman and Zero behind her, and they all stared at us for a second before looking down and seeing that the glove sized spider was walking around. Gabby was the first to wail out and jump up on her cot with Caveman and Zero following right after.

"Be a man!" I pushed Squid slightly.

"It's gonna kill me!"

"No it won't!"

"So you do it then!"

"It's nasty!" I pushed him a little more and he nearly fell off the bed.

To our rescue, Mr. Sir and his awkward bow-legged stance appeared in the entry way to our tent. Baring a gun, he held it out and shot at the spider, missing once and hitting the dirt, causing it to scurry and making Zero scream like a little girl. He shot the spider, making its foot long legs curl up underneath its body.

"There! Now will y'all calm the hell down?!" he asked, storming out of the room.

Gabby was in between Caveman and Zero, both boys hugging her. They let go quickly and fell to a sitting position on the bed. Squid and I were still holding onto each other and let go just as quickly, slowly sitting down.

I began laughing slightly and then Gabby joined in. Her laugh (which sounded a lot like Marge Simpson mixed with Ryland Blackinton's laugh) made Zero start to giggle which set off Caveman and finally Squid joined in and we were all cracking up.

"What do we do with the body?" Gabby asked.

I glanced at Squid, "Maybe we can give it to the cafeteria ladies and they can cook it for tomorrow."

"Food wouldn't taste no different," he stared down at the spiders dead beady eyes.

"I think we should get it out of here," Caveman said, eyeing the carcass.

"Maybe we could put it in a box and give it to Mom," Zero chimed in.

"I think we should," I agreed.

"Where we gonna get a box?" Squid asked.

"We will do no such thing!" Gabby ordered.

"Why not!?" I whined.

"Because! We're gonna get in trouble!"

I snorted, "And? What are they gonna do? Send us to a detention camp?"

She sighed, "Please don't?"

"Fine," I sighed and laid back.

"We should go back now," Zero chirped.

"Take that thing," Gabby pointed. "With you."

"Fine," Caveman stood up and took a shoe off, leading the spider out of the tent with it.

I looked at Squid who was laying next to me, "You gonna go?"

"Do I have to?" he asked, surprising me.

I smiled, "Yeah, I think Mr. Sir may have to come in and shoot you if you stay here."

He rolled over onto his stomach, "What are you gonna do if another spider comes in though?"

"Because you were such a big help the first time!" Gabby exclaimed from her cot where she was crawled under the blankets, attempting to sleep. I moved so I had my head on the small pillow and my feet were hanging slightly off the bed because it was too short. I had my legs bent so they were over Squids.

I looked over at the candle that illuminated the tent, "I'll just call for my knight in shining armor when that happens."

"Shush!" Gabby commanded, getting cranky.

"Me?" he whispered, crawling closer, laying next to me.

"No, Mr. Sir." I looked over at him and he broke into a massive smirk.

"Goodnight," he said.

"Night," I muttered back. He leaned over, kissed my forehead and left the tent.

I turned the knob on the candle, making it go out and allowing the night to consume out tent.


	4. Good god

Chapter 4

EMILY'S POV

The next few days were all the same, wake up, eat, dig, eat, dig some more, eat, then go to bed. The only interesting thing that happened during these days was watching Lump almost kill Caveman one day in the wreck room and the rest of D-tent saved him before he got hung by his toenails then thrown into a hole.

The only thing that really changed was that Squid ignored me completely.

It was about two weeks into our stay at Camp Hell and I already was finished with it.

GABBY'S POV

"Rise and shine campers!" Mom exclaimed as we all shuffled out of our tents and over to the library to get our shovels.

I yawned and stood next to Emily, not saying anything because she had been cranky for the past couple of days.

"Hey," someone said from behind me.

Caveman handed me a shovel and I gratefully took it, "Thanks."

"No problem," he said and we began walking with everyone else towards the digging site.

"So…uh," Caveman stuttered, watching all the boys walk past us. "I know that it's a bit weird…being that we're at a juvenile detention camp…but…"

"What?" I asked, sticking my shovel in the ground when I reached my new digging spot.

"If you wanted to…I guess I can't say…well…if you wanted to go out with me. Which I know you can't because well…look at where we are…but. Yeah."

"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"

"Yes. Yes I am."

"Well…sure."

"Sure?"

"Yes!" I laughed and stopped abruptly when he kissed me for a long moment, making my mind feel like it was filled with air and complete indescribable explosions and fireworks. He then pulled back when Mom began dancing around about digging holes and how we're digging for character. I couldn't help but notice Zig-Zag glaring at Caveman from the corner of my eye.

SQUID'S POV

"Ay," I called when Mom came around with the truck to give us all lunch. I pulled back on Magnets collar and pulled him behind me in line, cutting in front of Fox. I knew she wouldn't say anything about it so I pushed him again so she was behind me.

I hadn't talked to her for a long while now, and it was killin me. The only reason I had been ignoring her was because I was afraid if I got too attached, I would just end up hurting her somehow, like I did to my mom. When my mom told me she was disappointed in how I turned out it tore me up. She said I was part of the reason for her drinkin. I couldn't disappoint Fox like that. But I couldn't be away from someone who showed that they cared for me like she did. She was the first person who treated me like this for all my sixteen years other than my mom before she started goin downhill.

I stared over at her as I bit into my apple, sitting on the edge of my hole. She was sitting on the edge of hers, laying back and staring up at the sky with her eyes closed.

Just then Zig-Zag threw something in Caveman's face, causing him to push his chest back. They began shoving each other and eventually Zero attacked Zig-Zag, choking him.

There was a gunshot and Mom started yelling about something, I wasn't really listening as I helped Zig-Zag stand up and brushed him off. Everyone went back to digging their holes, knowing that the Warden would be there soon.

"Ay Zig," I called. "You doin alright?"

"Yeah," he said from the hole next to mine. He leaned up on the edge of his hole, putting his head in his arms, "I'm fine now. What about you?"

"Me?" I asked, sticking my shovel in the ground.

"Yeah you," he replied.

"I'm…fine."

"No you're not."

"Why you thinkin that?" I asked.

"Because you aint actin like yourself Squid. What's wrong?"

When I didn't answer he sighed and said, "You can't be afraid of livin your life. You aint a bad person. I know you're not."

He went back into his hole and started digging again. After the Warden got there everyone was called out of their hole and to the water truck, The Warden asked what happened and she got a run down from a few of the guys and then Zig-Zag chimed in with a comment about Caveman not digging his own holes.

"What did you say?" she asked, taking a step forward.

"It's true ma'am," I backed up Zig. "Zero's been diggin half of the Caveman's hole."

She went on to yell at Caveman and he tried explaining how he was giving Zero reading lessons and Mom started teasing Zero by calling him stupid.

"What does D-I-G spell?" he sneered.

Zero thought for a moment before whacking him across the face with his shovel then bolting for the mountains.

"Go Zero! GO!" Caveman screamed as Mr. Sir chased him with a gun.

"Don't shoot! We don't need no investigations around here," Warden said before leaving. "And I want my seven holes dug. Fox, why don't you finish Zero's for him?"

"Yes Ma'am," she agreed, having no other choice.

Eventually everyone was finished with their hole. I loitered in my hole for a while, not wanting to leave her out there alone.

"Why are you still here?" she asked, startling me a little.

I sat on the edge of her hole and slid down, shoveling out some dirt. "Don't know. In case them buzzards come out I'd want to see if they ate your eyeballs first."

"Thanks," she mumbled.

She put her shovel in the ground and sat down inside the hole a few feet away from me. I walked over to her and crouched down, "What's wrong?"

"It's just hot," she said, throwing her empty water bottle away angrily.

"Here," I gave her mine from around my shoulder and she took it slowly. After I helped her drink some I sat down next to her and she coughed a little.

"I'm sorry," I said suddenly.

"It's fine."

"I don't want to end up dissapointin' you too," I said to my feet.

She stared at me, "How would you disappoint me?"

I shrugged. She coughed a few more times and leaned over, putting her head on my shoulder.

"You can never disappoint me. I like you too much," I put my hand on hers that was resting on her knee.

"Fox?"

"Yeah?"

"I am really sorry."

She looked up at me and pulled my face closer to hers, kissing me softly. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. No emotions like that had ever rushed through my mind and body.

"Let's go back to camp," she said and I stood up and held out my hand to help her stand up.

EMILY'S POV

All of the guys(plus Gabby and I) were all hanging out in D-tent, lolling around and talking, telling stories of friends, family, and things like that. Gabby and Caveman were laying out on his cot, even Gabby had on a tank top at this point because it was so painfully hot. I sighed and laid back down next to Squid, he had his shirt off and was laying back on his stomach, rubbing his hair from sweat. I squirmed over so I was laying on his back a little.

"So Caveman and Kitten, you two are really official now?" Magnet twittered from his cot.

"Yeah," Gabby giggled.

"What about Fox and Squid? When are you both comin outta the closet?"

"What are you People magazine or somethin? Why do you keep asking about everyone's personal life." X-ray chimed in.

"I was just wonderin!" his Mexican accent whined.

"We are," Squid said, surprising even me.

"Since when?" X asked, just as surprised.

"Who cares?" Squid asked and I nuzzled his back.

"FRESH MEAT!" there was a scream from outside.

Everyone jumped up and ran outside, eager to see who the new kid was. When we jumped down the steps and into the dusty road where tons of guys were crowding around the nasty bus which dropped Gabby and I off not too long ago. It seemed like the whole camp was outside, and we couldn't see anything at all but the top of the yellow bus.

"What the hell?" someone asked from inside the crowd.

I bolted through the crowd, because all the guys were bigger than me I could easily slip through them. Gabby mumbled some complaints to herself for a moment before rushing after me and into the crowd. Once we were through the mosh, there was the officer who was in the bus with us, holding someone in his right arm.

The person was extremely tall, taller than Gabby. They had short hair that was a fiery red tone which was longer on the front sides and a short buzz cut everywhere else. It wasn't just a normal natural red, it was literally fire truck red. The person turned around and Gabby and I gasped.

It was a girl.

She was wearing a black wife-beater tank top and gray camo pants. When she turned around she spit at the ground and grimaced, showing a strong looking square face and that she had a tattoo on her neck which looked like it was supposed to be an outline of which bones were there. The girl glanced over at Gabby and I and I realized both of our jaws were dropped.

She grimaced once before being taken into Mr. Sir's office.

"Oh…" Gabby said.

"My…" I gasped.

"God." We both finished.

We turned around to see all of D-tent behind us with their jaw's dropped too.

"She was kinda hot," Magnet said, breaking the silence.

Armpit burst out laughing and I looked over at Squid who had a look of pure disgust on his face.

"You ok?" I stifled a laugh.

"Good god." He mumbled before changing the side of his mouth he was chewing on. The alarm went off to tell everyone that dinner was ready and everyone shuffled for the mess hall.


	5. G for GIRL

**short chapter, more coming soon.

Chapter 5

"So what do y'all think she's gonna be like," Zig asked, stuffing a piece of bread in his cheeks.

"She looked pretty butch," I muttered.

Magnet laughed, "Maybe the buzzard'll mistake her for a dead hippo carcass and what did you say the other night about Zero, Squid?"

"They pick out the eyeballs first," he made a squishing noise.

"A dead hippo carcass, huh?" a voice said from behind us.

Everyone froze in place.

"Anyone of you pansy's gonna answer me?" It was the girl, her voice was daring and gravely.

She grabbed Magnet by the collar of his suit and pulled him off of his seat, "Well?"

I stood up quickly, "Back off butch."

She got into my face, showing she was at least a foot taller than me.

"What was that whore?"

"You heard me," I snapped. "Back. Off."

She didn't break eye contact with me, "You know I could snap you in half without a problem?"

Gabby's voice wavered, "Em…"

"I wanna see you try," I glared.

Suddenly X-Ray scurried over, "Girls, we don't want the Warden comin in here cause of a fight."

"Tell her she better watch herself then," the girl snapped.

"Fox," X-Ray sighed. "Come on, just let it go girl."

"Whatever," I said, sitting back down in between Gabby and Squid.

"Sit down here Butch," X-Ray said. Showing her the empty spot next to Zig-Zag.

She eyed Squid quickly then looked down at him holding my hand in his lap.

"Butch?"

"Huh?" she looked back up.

"That's your new nickname. My name is X-Ray. That's Squid, Fox, Kitten, Caveman, Armpit, Magnet is the one on the ground, and there is Zig-Zag."

Magnet scurried next to Zig-Zag and sat down, not making eye contact with anyone.

"So what you in for?" X-Ray asked.

"Theft, arson, and a few other things," she said. Gabby shifted in her seat a little. "They said the girl's center was filled so I had to come here."

Squid leaned over and kissed the side of my ear before whispering, "Are we hangin out tonight?"

I smirked a little then whispered back, "Yes we are."

He smiled slightly and turned back forward, I couldn't help but notice Butch's eyes staring daggers into mine.

X-Ray noticed our stare down and changed the subject, "What tent you in?"

"G," she said. "For GIRL."


	6. sleepless nights

**thanks to everyone for your comments especially crazayfunkaymunkay, yours always make me laugh oh and any suggestions of something you wanna see happen, PM me! BTW, check out my new Haunting in Connecticut story (I think it's the best one I've ever written) because I switch back and forth on the stories I write (one chapter for holes then one for THIC..ect) ch-ch-check it out

Chapter 6

EMILY'S POV

While the guys were talking about how much Butch resembled a Coronal Sanders version of Chuck Norris, Gabby and I sat with our boyfriends on their beds, talking to each other about how we had to share a room with her.

"I am really not comfortable with this," she muttered.

"She won't do anything, if I have anything to do with it."

Gabby sighed, "Em, don't fight her or anything. I really don't want to start any more trouble than we already did."

I shrugged it off, "Whatever, as long as she leaves us alone I'm fine."

"Ayy Fox you really saved me today," Magnet sang from his cot.

Squid toyed with his toothpick, "You almost got your ass whooped Magnet."

Everyone but Caveman began laughing. I couldn't help but notice the mood he had been in all day.

GABBY'S POV

I laid against Caveman's chest, knowing that he was stifling tears behind his pained expression. He hadn't said anything to me since Zero had run away. And now that Butch was here to replace Zero, reality sunk in. He wasn't coming back.

But I knew that Caveman didn't believe that. He knew that Zero was still alive.

"Gabby," he whispered, making me jump a little.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to find him, after tomorrow though."

"You can't go out there," I murmured back. "You'll die."

He shook his head, "I'm going to steal the water truck when it comes and ride it out for as far as I can go with enough gas to get back."

"I'm going with you," I said, surprising even myself.

"No you're not."

"I am or else I'm telling."

"You've got to be kidding me," he teared up a little.

"No, I can't let you do it alone."

"Fine."

"Fine." I felt a wave of apprehension and hypercriticism rush through me.

I had told Emily to stay out of trouble and I was about to flee from camp after stealing camp property into a seemingly endless desert.

"We should go back before Chuck Norris steals all of our stuff," Emily called over from Squid's cot.

"Alright," I replied, kissing Caveman a few times before getting up to the door.

I laid down in my cot, first one next to the door. Emily's was right across from mine on the right hand side when you first walked in. The new girl had positioned herself a few cot's back on my side of the tent.

"So," I tried to be friendly. "What's your real name?"

"Kris," she said, ruffling her fire red hair. I noticed now that she had her red jumpsuit on, tied around her waist and a baggy white t-shirt, she had a tattoo on her left arm of a leprechaun.

"You like my tattoo?" she asked.

"Uh…it's not really my thing. Emily is more into that kind of stuff," I mumbled.

Emily had been laying, facing the front of the tent, obviously annoyed that we were sharing G tent with someone else.

"You like tattoos?" Butch asked, directed at Emily.

Emily wasn't about to ignore her, I knew she saw it as a sign of weakness for some reason.

"Yeah."

"You have one?" the girl asked.

"No."

"What about a boyfriend?"

"Yeah."

"Who?" Butch sat up a little in her bed. I was leaning back in mine and glanced up from my book _The Huntress_.

"Squid."

I snickered a little to Emily's one word responses.

"The hot one with the toothpick?"

I can't laugh…

Don't laugh…

"Yup."

"He's hot."

"I know."

I felt myself snort out a little, quiet enough that nobody heard.

"I may have to make a move." Butch pushed a little more.

Don't. Laugh.

"Good luck with that. I hear he doesn't like transvestites."

That got me and I let out a loud laugh, catching myself quickly when Butch's eyes caught mine. They were threatening and held visions of hostile emotions.

"I just wanna let you know that I'm gonna run this place." Butch said, turning to go to bed.

"Good luck taking it from me," Emily said, closing her eyes.

I found it hard to sleep that night, thinking about how I probably wouldn't live that much longer. I had tomorrow, I would get to see my family tomorrow for family visitation day, then I could tell them how much I loved them. Then the next day Caveman and I were going to run to find Zero. You can survive three days without water. And we had two, maybe three people, we had to provide that for.

As hard as I tried, all I could do was stare at the tent's dusty wall the whole night.

EMILY'S POV

I woke up in the middle of the night, after a nightmare I had which was about going back home and finding out that my mom was gone from our house. I had looked all over for her, and finally went to our basement, not thinking she would be there. But she was and there was a man standing over her dead body.

Sitting up in my bed, I tried to not think of the horrifying dream. I climbed over to Gabby's cot, careful to not wake her and grabbed her watch.

_1:21 AM._

I had until 4 am to sleep and then the waking alarm would go off, telling it was time to dig. There was no falling back asleep for me at that point so I changed into my work clothes, putting on a black spaghetti strap tank top and tying the arms around my waist. I tied my hair back and held my bangs with it with two bobby pins, off to the side a little.

_1:22 AM._

I sighed and sat down on the wooden stairs outside of our tent. The moon was still out, would still be out for a while now, even when everyone wakes up to go dig. That's when I would get to see him again. His dusty face and thick eyebrows. His deep brown eyes and dark hair hidden beneath that silly towel he wore under his hat. His thickly accented voice which showed no sign of amusement, always a tinge of anger lingering inside of it. I heard that voice before with that tinge missing though. I couldn't help but realize that even though it had only been one day…I was really falling for a guy named Squid.

Unable to take the silence, I stood up off the stairs and walked over to the tent in front of ours.

_D-TENT_

Cautiously, I walked up the stairs and walked through the unzipped door, glancing around. Squid was laying under a thin white sheet, his bare chest poking out. I contemplated for a few minutes how I would come across this. I decided to just walk over and lay down on top of him, pushing him onto his back.

He almost screamed so I put my hand over his mouth and laughed silently. His eyes softened and I pulled my hand back, kissing him quickly.

"Why are you here?" he asked sleepily.

"I couldn't fall back asleep," I mumbled.

He ran his fingers though my hair and I laid my head on his chest.

"When the guys wake up their all gonna freak out," he laughed quietly.

"Whatever," his lips met mine again and I pulled back.

"How was Butch?" he asked.

"Why do you care?" I snapped slightly, remembering her comment from before.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, stopping his hand suddenly.

"Nothing, she just annoys me." I sighed. "We got into another argument before."

"Bout what?"

"Nothing really. She just told me that she was going to run this place. I feel kind of stupid for taking it so personally."

"I don't think you really have to worry about her," he yawned.

I rolled off of him and laid next to his side, "Go back to sleep."

"You gonna go?"

"Do I have to?"

"No."

"Then no."

He mumbled something incoherent before he fell back asleep. I tried to not be my usual restless self and used all of my power to remain still, afraid that I would wake him up. Eventually, I fell back asleep.

There is that kind of sleep that someone can get into that they are not really asleep, but everything around them is dizzy feeling. It's that valley in between dreamland and reality. That's where I spent the two hours before wake up call. When the alarm went off the trumpets noise seemed louder than it would if I were asleep, or even awake for that matter.

"Magnet! Wake up man!" X-Ray slapped the bed next to me.

I flew up in the air, realizing where I was.

"What the hell?" X-Ray looked over, smiling manically. "How long you been in here Fox?"

"I donno," I garbled sleepily as Squid rolled over next to me, grumbling.

I left the tent so all the guys could get changed in peace and for the first time ever, I was the first one to the Library.

"You're here early Emily!" Mom chirped, holding out a tub filled with soggy tortillas which I had grown to accept as food.

I took one groggily, "Uh-huh."

"Trouble sleepin?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, think positive! Today is parent visitation day!"

"What?" my eyes snapped open.

"Yup, you dig half your hole now, then for lunch time everyone comes back and their family or friends come for an hour, and then you dig the rest of it."

**(A/N: I KNOW, I KNOW. But I really wanted to make this happen **** )**

"Seriously?" I had no idea that this was even real because I had never heard of it before, my mom probably didn't either.

"Yup. We don't get barely any people though, nobody wants to see their disgrace that they call their children frankly."

I ignored his last comment and walked over to the spot where I saw Gabby sitting in the dirt. After I handed her one of the two shovels I grabbed, she smiled up at me.

"Where were you this morning?"

"I left two hours early, I couldn't sleep."

"Oh," she said, laying back in the dirt.

"Did you hear about the parents day thing?" I asked, sitting next to her.

"Yeah," she nodded, rubbing her eyes.

"Why is it that I didn't?"

"Mom told us about it in group yesterday," she sat up to take a tortilla that Caveman handed to her before sitting down next to us. A few moments later Squid came over, leaning his head on my shoulder and dozing off.

"You never listen in group," she tore off a bite.

I smiled groggily, "True."

Squid began snoring on my shoulder and Gabby burst out laughing, causing a few boys to turn around and give us confused looks.

I elbowed him a little in the ribs and he woke up, "At least after I dig half of a hole I can come back and sleep."

"Your parents aren't coming?" Gabby asked and I shot her a look.

He snorted, "If they showed up I would drop dead of shock."

I kissed his forehead which was pressed to my shoulder still.

"Oh…" Gabby mumbled, sensing the discomfort.

Everyone got up to go dig, and I couldn't help but notice the four of us all looked like we had only slept two hours total. We reached the new site, the sound of shovels into the dry cracked earth rustled through the thick air. When lunch time finally breached, everyone was glad to have the break for once, although most were talking about how they knew nobody was going to come see them like last time.

"Too bad the state requires we have this," Mom's nasally voice called from the water truck that drove next to us. "Just a waste of time. Not like anybody wants to actually see any of you."

How I wanted to spit on his face…

"Go to the mess hall and if you find someone you know there, stay. If not, go back to your tents or do other chores you are ordered to do."

Most people didn't even bother going into the mess hall, they just crawled back into their own tents. Squid pulled me into a tight hug once we were walking past D-Tent.

"See you later," he mumbled before going to leave for his tent.

"No," I grabbed his arm. "Wait."

He gave me a look which I tried to ignore but couldn't help but feel the fire burn in my heart.

"I want you to come in there with me, and if my mom is there…I want you to meet her."

"You want me," he began. "To meet your mom?"

"Why not?" I asked, trying to make it sound like no big deal.

"Hey ma, look at this. I met a juvenile delinquent boy at my detention camp named Squid," he rolled his eyes, going to walk back in the tent.

"No-Squi-STOP," I stammered before rushing off to grab him again.

"Jesus Christ woman!" he exclaimed.

"Please? For me."

He sighed and looked up at the sky, "Fine."


	7. meet the parents

**thanks for all the comments!!! I wanna make this one of those stories that get like 100000 comments. R&R mon amies!!!

Chapter 7

"Alan why are you even in here?" Mom asked when he saw Squid following me into the mess hall.

He glowered at him and Dr. Pendanski cowered away. I dragged Squid to the back of the room where there were barely any people, knowing my mom she would be in the most isolated spot possible.

"Em!" someone called.

I turned to D-tent's usual dinner table and saw a blonde haired Farrah Fawcett look alike sitting in a pair of nice tan dress pants and a black blouse.

"Mom," I smiled, rushing over into her open arms.

She sniffed a little, "You're filthy."

I laughed and turned to face Squid, "This is my friend…uh…"

"I'm Alan," he said, knowing that my mom was already doubtful by her expression.

"Hi I'm Donna," she shook his hand suspiciously.

"I'll leave you two alone," he nodded, squeezing my shoulder before turning to my mom. "Nice meeting you ma'am."

She gave him a small smile and watched as he left, "He's your _friend_?"

"Yeah," I mumbled, sitting down.

She sat next to me, a grimace on her face, "I don't so much like you being with a guy you met in a detention center."

"He's not bad mom. He's here for something stupid like me."

"Something stupid? Yeah I know you defiantly did something stupid."

I glared at her, "If all you came here for was to yell at me then just leave."

"I came here to see my daughter. But I don't even know if you are my daughter anymore. You were such a good girl, what happened?"

"NOTHING!" I exclaimed. "Nothing happened! Gabby and I just got in trouble for some stuck up rich guy reporting us-

"For breaking into his house!" she screamed back.

"We didn't mean anything by it," I mumbled, seeing her point.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before she sighed.

"What do you do here anyway?" she asked, changing the subject.

"We dig."

"You dig?" her face twisted.

"Yeah."

"What do you dig?"

"Holes?" I said sarcastically then felt slightly bad. "Yeah, we have to dig holes. Really big ones."

"Oh," she mumbled.

"They have to be five feet deep and five feet wide," I said, knowing she was just like me and would probably give me a little bit of the cold shoulder now.

"That's big," she said, playing with her shirt.

"Times almost up! Start sayin your goodbyes!" Mr. Sir called.

"That guy seriously needs some kind of facial surgery," my mom raised her eyebrows.

"Or to get laid," I mumbled so low she didn't hear.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I didn't say anything." I said, standing up. "I gotta finish my hole before the sun sets, or I may get eaten alive by buzzards."

"We wouldn't want that. Drink lots of water," she said, hugging me tightly. "You're so dirty, take a shower when you're done."

I snorted, "Of course. Bye mom."

"Bye sweetie, I love you," she hugged me again.

"You too, bye!" she left for the car that was waiting for her, driving away slowly.

GABBY'S POV

Caveman walked into the mess hall with me, Emily and Squid seemed to have disappeared on the way there.

"Are you sure your parents are gonna be here?" Mom greeted us as we walked through the wooden threshold.

We ignored him and walked into the side of the room where I saw my mom sitting. Her dark brown, nearly black, hair was cut to her shoulders, her soft skin and motherly figure made everything inside me warm up a little with pure happiness.

"Hi mom," I smiled widely and she stood up to collect me into a giant bear hug.

"Hello Gabrielle," she held me tighter.

"Hi, My name is Stanley," Caveman took my mothers outstretched hand.

"Hello, nice to meet you." She smiled and turned her attention back to me. "Ugh! Gabrielle you are filthy."

"I know," I grimaced, dusting off my sleeve a little.

"I think I see my parents," Caveman looked around. "I'll see you later when we dig."

"Bye!" my mom called as he walked away. "He was cute."

She nudged me and I sighed, "Yeah."

"So when was the last time you bathed?" she asked.

"Two days ago," I mumbled.

"TWO DAYS!?" she exclaimed. "Why are you not bathing everyday if you have to dig in that dirty, filthy-

I cut her off, "Mom they give us two shower tokens a week. That gives us one minute of running cold water."

"Two?" she gave me a look. "Who is in charge here?"

"The Warden," I mumbled. But she was already stomping over to Mr. Sir, a determined look on her face. After what seemed like an hour she came back with an accomplished look plastered on.

"I got you three more tokens per week."

"Thanks! How'd you do that?" I asked, taking the tree coins from her.

"I told him that since you were a girl you needed it or you were open to different kinds of infection."

"What?" I laughed.

She shrugged, "So how is Emily doing?"

"Good, good." I replied. "She met a guy too."

"Oooh!" my mom scooted closer. "What's he look like?"

"Cute I guess. He has short black hair and he's tall. Always chewing on a toothpick," I tried to explain.

"What's his name?"

"Squid."

She gave me a look, "Who names their child Squid?"

"It's a nickname. We all have them here, nobody uses real names."

"What's yours?" she asked. "Goofy? Happy? Sneezy?"

"Mom those are the seven dwarfs names," I sighed. "And they call me Kitten."

"Kitten? That's cute," she thought. "Why do they call you that?"

"X-Ray said because I'm cute and adorable and innocent like a kitten."

She looked around, "What's Emily's?"

"Fox."

"I like yours more."

I tried to not laugh at my mother's attempt to gossip, "They're both good."

After a while Mr. Sir began yelling about how it was time to go and we had to finish digging before the sun set. My mom and I walked outside into the hot sun, standing by the cab that she would leave in.

Then it hit me.

I would possibly never see her again after today.

I began to break down into tears, the wet droplets streaming down my cheeks. My knees were buried into the dirt as I sobbed into my dusty hands, getting mud into my eyes.

"Gabrielle! You are going to see me soon, after a few months," she squatted down and held me in her arms.

I couldn't tell her that she would never see her only daughter for the rest of her life. If she was lucky she would get to see my dried out remains.

EMILY'S POV

I dragged my feet back to G-Tent, not wanting to do anything else but sleep after the long day I had experienced. Digging the second half of my hole seemed to take longer than digging the tens of holes I had already dug in one shot. Every three minutes my mind would flash back to my mom leaving in her cab and I would break down five feet into the ground, and try to not cry.

I succeeded at holding the tears back and walked back to my tent, ignoring X-Ray calling after me to wait for him as he struggled to get out of his hole.

My cot seemed to be occupied when I got back, Squid was passed out in it. Gabby was sitting in her cot next to Caveman, tears streaming down her cheeks which he wiped away for her.

I knew that my voice was too shaky right now to ask what was wrong without breaking into tears myself so I crawled next to Squid and allowed him to hold me close to him in his arms.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I didn't answer and he asked again.

"Nothing."

"Emily." He said, shocking me that he used my real name. "What's wrong?"

"Squidward," I mumbled back. "It's nothing."

"Please," he begged. "tell me."

"I don't really know," I honestly told him. "I just miss my mom but at the same time I'm mad that she spent our whole time together with her being pissed off."

"She was pissed still about what you did?" he asked.

I felt kind of guilty that I was complaining about this, knowing my mom would be like this for the first time seeing me since the incident, when Squid didn't get to see his parents at all.

"She'll get over it. She always does," I said, holding him a little tenser.

We laid in silence for a while and listened to the sound of a thick wind outside which whistled against the tent walls. After a while it began to get more violent, making the tent door shake and quake. Since it seemed like nobody else was going to shut it (Gabby and Caveman were passed out on her bed and Butch was sleeping in the very back of the tent) I got up and closed it myself.

"I take this as I'm not allowed to leave?" Squid asked, turning to look over.

"Unless you wanna go out there in the sand storm," I sat back down, crawling close to him.

After a few moments of kissing him goodnight that turned to a few minutes, we both went to sleep.


End file.
